1st Post here, 1st Crawler

[LoveToROCK]

I just wanted to say hello to everyone here. I've been reading this forum, most of it anyway, for the past two weeks.

I went to RACEWAY Hobbies in Smithton PA two weeks ago...to just look around. The owner, Matt took the time to show me around and he got me interested in Crawlin. I came home and started reading this forum, I was soon hooked. Last Saturday I went back to RACEWAY and bought a AX-10 kit, motor, ESC and radio.

I had been running a nitro Revo but this crawlin thing is much more fun. And at 53 years old I like this going slow stuff better. I raced real Jeeps back in the '70's but never rock crawlin.

I built this AX during the past week. But I had to do it on a budget right now so I used less than the best for the motor, ESC and radio. I will upgrade those and a few other things later.

I did modify the shocks, changed the too heavy stock springs with HPI med/softs. They are about half the stiffness of the stock springs and seems to be better. I used a peice of nitro fuel line inside the shock to lower the ride some and used a small 1/4" peice on the outside as a dampener.

I made an aluminum plate for the steering servo and split battery pack.

I guess that I didn't pay attention to what batteries you guys use for the split packs. I took apart a 1800 7.2 pack and made it into a split pack and was confused as to why it didn't fit. My batteries were too big to mount them on their side but they did fit standing up just fine. The big batteries give the front more weight.

I painted one clear body with an airbrush about 15 years ago. I never used the Parma water based paint before. I did have trouble with the paint until I thinned it properly and my detail airbrush died so i had to use one that will not spray a small amount. But...I figure that I learned alot painting the Betty body so the paint on the Bug body that I bought might turn out better...I hope.

Thanks to all the members here for sharing so much about RC/RC.

And a special thanks to Matt at RACEWAY for getting me hooked.





The paint on the rear part is a mix of Silver Pearl and Charcoal Pearl, the front is Fluorscent Green.

[LoveToROCK]

One pic with the body off.

[DrewGzy]

Looks good. I like the paint job.

[tk5028]

Nice paint. Is that a M5 Stuart in the background?

[dpdsurf]

Looks great! Your paint job is top notch I did the same thing with the sub c batteries when I started. What you want is teh 2/3A cells. http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com/mai...er=88&type=car

But ultimately when $ permits you cannot beat the run time and power burst of a 3S Lipo! http://www.rctoys.com/rc-toys-and-pa...Y-BATTERY.html I hace 2 2000mah and 1 1320mah from Thunder Power which gives me 5 hours total of crawl time.

Welcome to the rock crawling hobby.

[Greenman]

VERY nice looking truck. They body has a great paintjob on it. It's so clean...

[slider5161]

Nice paint man wow, love that charcoal color, nice job.

[RiderZ]

Way to go-Looks like your off to a good start.I'm kinda new to this stuff myself.I had an AX-10 kit last year and ended up selling it on ebay last winter.I thought i was more into the fast nitro trucks.I found myself coming back to slow & easy too.I just picked up an ARTR AX-10 and love it.

[CreepyCrawl]

Nice work, clean and simple. Sweet mix of paints too...I really dig the Charcoal Pearl.

[LoveToROCK]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the comments on the paint. I see many mistakes and know now how to correct them on the next one. Hopefully I'll be painting the Bug body next week.

And yes, that is a 1/6 Stuart tank in the background. It's getting a full size paintball gun mounted in the turret and a wireless camera this winter.

I'm taking the truck out tomorrow to do some climbing. I was just testing the lighter springs on about 10 boxes and found that it climbs and handles better with the stock springs. I'm just trying to make it better until I can order some good shocks.

[MCSCOTT]

Welcome aboard. I think the paint job turned out great, and I'm really liking how clean your electronics are wired up. I know of several folks who run the bigger cells like you've done, but like mentioned the 2/3a cells let you fit 8cell 9.6v packs on in the same spot for more power, or you can jump up to the lipo. I'd like to hear a little more about the Jeep racing you've done at some point cause I'm a die hard Jeep fan, especially the older stuff. I use to hang around the ECJ5 forum and always liked the gallery they have on there for posting pics of wheeling and racing old Jeeps back then.

[fixed13]

Looks like a great start, I am new to this also, only about a month and a 1/2 in. Love every minute of the slow stuff. I too am coming from the racing side of the hobby and have since sold all but one race truck.

[Wild Willys]

Welcome to Crawling!! I bought and built my AX10 about 1 year ago, but did not really use it or do anything to it until recently.
I added 4 oz of lead to each of my front wheels and that made a BIG difference on how it drives. Yesterday I added rear steering.....what a difference. There are not any comps in my area, so I am not worried about the 4WS.
Great job and good luck!

[chracing]

Nice job and welcome to crawling. I too, am an off road nitro racing convert. At 56, it's nice not being up on that driver's stand all the time. I still do race once in a while (Jammin truggies), but I find it more relaxing to go slow and can do it anytime. I am retired and spend a lot of time out in my shop designing and machining crawler parts.

[Lobonyc]

Nice Paint Job. Love the smooth cuts on the body...

[blacksmith]

Nice job I like the way you mounted your batteries

[LoveToROCK]

I love this forum. I wasn't sure how the thing would go over here, I am new at this. Thanks for the comments and info, both are appreciated.

Blacksmith mentioned the battery mounting. I learned that zip tying a triangular object is difficult . You always have a rounded area to deal with and the tie wants to slide. But I managed to get them solidly mounted.

I went to Lowe's and bought a piece of aluminum the same dimensions as the servo mount except it is long enough to make 8 more plates. I think I made it 5 1/2" long and drilled and countersunk it like the original one. I had trouble getting the batteries mounted solid with zippies until I bent up the front edges of the servo/battery plate. This wedged the triangular shaped packs between the bend and the servo mount. I placed small pieces of black foam under the batteries too.

Here's a picture with flash so you can see better.



Lobonyc, I used a Dremel with the little drum sander around the body to smooth it up. Thanks for noticing.

[LoveToROCK]

Rather than starting a thread...I ran the truck on the rocks yesterday and had a problem, I think.

As I said above I built this on a budget and plan to upgrade as I go. The Moped ESC acts strange in reverse. It will just stop, I have to touch forward and then go back to reverse so it will keep going in reverse.

I know reverse isn't used often but a few times when trying to back up for a better angle at a climb it would just stop until I hit forward.

Last evening I ran it in reverse here at home. Sometimes it will go a long time until it stops in reverse....sometimes only a few inches.

Is this how the Moped esc works or is there a problem with it?

[ussprinceton2004]

check the manual for the esc, if it came with one and reset it to where the reverse works the way you want it

[nico_6194]

Welcom to Rc Rock crawling

i also am hooked by this hobby.. i did the same with my split pack but mine is lying down instead of standing up...

diggin the body


btw... invest on some alum. drivelines....
i wish i had bought the drivelines before my chubs and knuckles...